Don't Look Back (Warders of Earth)

by S. E. GILCHRIST

  “How would you know?”

  I stumbled on, “Well, I guess I don’t really. Maybe it’s something to do with your dad’s business? Times are tough out here in the country at the moment.”

  I swung out of the car and shut the door. I tossed the keys from one hand to the other. I’d intended to talk to Em about Mum and the weird messages I’d seen, but if she had troubles at home, maybe this wasn’t the best time.

  Em joined me and linked arms. The simple gesture reassured me our friendship was as solid as always. Together, we strolled toward the pub where laughter, the clink of glass and light spilled out into the shadows.

  “That’s possible, I did overhear the last time I was home, Mum telling Dad that she had changed her mind and didn’t want anything more to do with some project or other,” said Em.

  “See? A business deal.”

  “Sometimes, Tara, I swear you live on another planet.” She jerked open the door and stepped into the pub.

  Now what did I say?

  Frowning, I followed Em as she worked her way through the cluster of tables and chairs and two billiard tables to the front bar; the same bar I usually manned. Unlike the other room, this one was crowded and I recognised most of the faces including Crystal with her usual convoy of admirers and hangers-on.

  Oh yee-hah.

  And Alex.

  My heart did an odd kind of jump in my chest. Whether it was his stance or his in-born charisma, he gave the impression of a sun circled by a plethora of planets.

  A woman on a mission, Em barged through the crowd to end up beside Alex who stood next to a guy with shoulder length, straight blue-black hair. I recognised him as the guy from the railway station.

  “I can’t believe you got here before us,” burbled Em, smiling up into Alex’s face.

  Standing a little beyond the rough circle, I crossed my arms. My fingernails dug into my bare skin, not liking the surge of resentment swelling inside me. Was Em flirting with him? And if she was, shouldn’t I be cheering her on?

  Alex shrugged. “What can I say, I drive fast.” He glanced across the room and swept his cool gaze over me.

  The impact of his stare hit me like a cricket bat. My stomach muscles quivered, my mouth wobbled as I managed a weak smile.

  “This is my mate, Shay.” Alex indicated the guy at his side. Clad in a khaki tee-shirt and faded blue jeans he stood half a head shorter than Alex, with a leaner body. He had the look of a marathon runner about him. But that same, brooding sense of control and command Alex had in spades, clung to him, too.

  I shifted my weight, testing the heels of my boots on the sticky tiles. What was it with me lately? I didn’t normally delve that deep about other people.

  His slightly slanted, almond-shaped dark eyes glinted as he smiled and greeted us.

  “Where are you from, Shay? Same place as Alex?” Em transferred her wide-eye gaze from Alex to the other guy and fluffed out her shoulder-length curls.

  Crystal sidled between them and cut Em a glare that should have sliced her in two. I grinned.

  “They’re from Sydney of course. Where else?” Crystal raised one arched eyebrow.

  Probably hoping for an I’m-so-cool-kinda-expression. If you asked me, she looked a bit demonic.

  Blithely ignoring Crystal, Em said, “Do you work? How long are you here for? Is your family moving here too?”

  “Let’s get a drink.” I grabbed Em by the wrist and tugged. What was she playing at? For a moment there, Em had sounded like a mother interrogating a prospective boyfriend.

  I hustled her to the bar where she ummed and aarhed over her choice of drink for at least five minutes before giving her order. I had my usual. Scotch and dry. I fished out some change from my pocket and paid. At my insistence, we nabbed a high table near the wall and perched on a couple of stools.

  I took several gulps, half-closing my eyes, enjoying the slide of cold liquid down my throat and the hit of alcohol burning my stomach. A nice little buzz kicked in my brain.

  “That’s better.” I eyed Em who was craning her neck to look over the crowd. “What’s with you tonight? I haven’t seen you act this desperate for attention in forever.”

  “I’m not desperate,” snapped Em still peering over heads. “But then I’m not dead from the waist down either. Come on, Tara! You must admit those two guys are the best thing to hit this dead-end town in years.”

  “Exactly.” Unable to resist teasing her, I leaned close. “So what are they doing here?”

  Mouth sagging open, she twisted round to stare at me. Sometimes, it was just too easy. I laughed.

  I glanced over to the door then jumped to my feet, waving my arm above my head. “Look, Marnie’s arrived.” Gesturing wildly, I smiled while my super-thin friend weaved through the jungle of bodies and tables.

  As soon as she was within hugging distance, I pulled Marnie close. “It’s good to see you, Marnie. How was the trip?”

  Disentangling herself, Marnie hastened round the table and hugged Em. “No problems, although it was slow. I had to swag a lift with three separate truckies. No one was doing a straight run. I wish I’d had the money for the train but the robbery cleaned me out.”

  “You were lucky you weren’t home at the time.” Em frowned as Marnie slipped onto a stool and placed her perfectly manicured hands neatly on the table. “Whoever it was might have hurt you.”

  “Any more word from the cops?” I asked. At a year older than Em and me, Marnie had always been the voice of common sense in our circle of three.

  At least, for as long as I’d known her.

  Marnie’s hopes and dreams were centred on becoming a superstar model. With her tall, slim body, waist-length hair the colour of burnt honey with blonde highlights and olive skin she was a natural. If anyone deserved success it was her.

  “No. I doubt I’ll see my laptop again.” Marnie sighed, her wide mouth drooping downwards. Her milk-chocolate eyes met my anxious gaze. “I know the police think it was a couple of kids but I can’t help wondering otherwise. I mean, the diamond ring Nic gave me for my twenty-first was lying in plain sight on top of my dresser and wasn’t touched. I know the rock in it is only small, but still a pawn shop would have given at least fifty bucks, maybe seventy for it.”

  “That’s weird.”

  “I know, Tara. And it’s not as if my laptop was top of the line. I’d bought it second-hand off eBay. Of all the days for a break-in, it had to be the one day I forget to take my mobile to work.”

  Em shuffled closer and lowered her voice. “What if there was something on your lap top they wanted?”

  I chuckled. “Em, there’s no conspiracy happening here.”

  Mouth tight, Em averted her face.

  Astonished at her reaction, my jaw dropped. Em was never this touchy. She usually gave as good as she got. What was with her tonight? Unless, she was angsting over her parents. And here was me, acting the shit-stirer.

  “If the police doesn’t catch them, we’ll probably never know the real reason. And what’s worse my phone held the contact details for a new modelling job. They’d asked for more details and I’d decided to send off my full portfolio. But after the robbery happened, I couldn’t go ahead with it.” Marnie sighed. “I had no way of contacting them either. I’m a bit down about the whole deal, as the job sounded sweet.”

  “If you found the job on-line, you could have borrowed someone’s computer and searched for the ad again,” Em pointed out.

  “I know and I feel really weak that I didn’t, but at the time all I wanted to do was scrape up some money and head home. I had one of my feelings I was needed here.” Shrugging, Marnie gave a wry smile.

  “Well, I’m really happy to see you. Both of you. I’ve missed you guys,” I said.

  Em beamed and Marnie squeezed my hand before continuing, “I doubt I’ll hear from them again. There’s so many models out there looking for work and the competition is something fierce.”

  “How did you get my Facebo
ok message if your computer was stolen?” A tiny frown wrinkled Em’s smooth forehead.

  “Mr Lee, from the take-away-shop out front of my apartment, let me use his computer to keep in touch with friends and my family.”

  “Oh.”

  I grinned to ease my words of any sting and said, “Now that Em’s sixty questions have been answered... Isn’t it time for another drink?” I raised my glass and waggled it suggestively. “Don’t worry, Marnie, I’m sure another job will come along and it will be bigger and better because you deserve it. But in the meantime, best friends forever.”

  “Yes, best friends forever.” Marnie was the only one who parroted my words.

  Somehow they rang hollow when Em failed to respond. She stared like a blind man into the distance. What was she thinking about?

  An awkward silence fell and lengthened between us until Marnie dug out a clunky-looking mobile from her handbag and tapped it with a pearl-coloured fingernail.

  She smiled. “I’ve got a replacement phone. It’s practically out of the ark. One of Nonna’s old ones she found in a drawer, but it works. Same number guys.”

  She slipped it back into her bag and looked serenely at both of us.

  Em switched her gaze to Marnie’s bag and scowled as if she suspected it held a bomb.

  The silence dragged on.

  This was seriously weird. I needed another drink. No one had offered to head to the bar so it looked like the next shout would fall to me. Again. Not that Marnie ever touched the stuff these days and anyway, I couldn’t expect Marnie to offer to pay given the break-in.

  I crunched on my last ice cube and mentally counted the dosh in my wallet.

  Marnie’s gaze slid past my shoulder and she gasped. Nodding she indicated the wide TV screen on the opposite wall. “Look, guys. It’s a news flash. I want to hear what’s happening.”

  As if on cue, the room quietened to a few barely audible whispers. All heads lifted and all eyes turned to the screen.

  “I can’t hear, what’s that they’re saying?” complained Em.

  “If you’ll keep quiet for a moment, we’ll all be able to hear,” I teased. “Something about a meteor shower.”

  The crowd shifted and Alex pushed through to stand beside my stool. His gaze bored into me and heat flooded my cheeks. His arm brushed against mine. My tummy fluttered. Damnit. With difficulty I kept my eyes on the screen, refusing the temptation to ogle his hotness.

  Someone in the bar shouted to turn up the volume.

  “....servicemen and women have been recalled. We repeat, news is at hand of a large meteor shower, which is expected to pass close to Earth’s atmosphere in ten days time. Scientists are monitoring its path and the government has issued a statement advising there is no immediate threat. The recall of our service personnel has been explained as part of a long planned military manoeuvre to be undertaken over the next two months. More news at ten.”

  The image flickered and for one long minute the silence was deafening.

  Then my beeper went off.

  A music video blazed onto the screen. Music pumped from the speakers spread around the room and voices rose to compete with the noise.

  One quick flick and I turned off the irritating bleeping. Talk about timing! It could only mean one thing, Mum had heard the news broadcast and wanted me home quick smart. Anger welled. I’d go home when I was good and ready. Without looking I could feel Alex’s gaze now zeroed onto my belt. His curiosity positively buzzed in the air between us.

  “This is Marnie.” I waved a hand about in a feeble attempt to distract him.

  Marnie and Alex nodded to each other.

  Hands in pocket, Shay strolled over to stand a little beyond our small circle. I noticed how his dark eyes appeared to be fixed on Marnie who angled her shoulder in the opposite direction.

  Em swallowed the last of her drink then raising her voice, said, “Does your Dad know anything about this, Tara?”

  “He hasn’t said anything.” Actually, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d spoken to him. I frowned and fiddled with my straw, chasing the few drops of liquid left in my glass. Christmas? Guilt spiked like claws and I squirmed on the stool.

  “Why would her father know about meteors?” Alex leaned his elbows on the table and glanced at my friends.

  Em chattered on, “He works at the observatory.”

  Like an evil gene Crystal popped up beside Alex and snuggled into his side, her eyes as hard as rocks. “I can only imagine what kind of information he’d have access to ... as a cleaner.”

  Biting down hard on my lower lip, I shoved my glass across the table before I did something really nasty.

  “Since he’s a scientist I’m certain he’d know a lot more than you give him credit for, Crystal.” Marnie turned to me and added, “There’s a bad smell in this place. Let’s go and grab a coffee at your house, Tara.”

  “Good idea.” Relief made my voice overloud. I fished the car keys from my pocket and made a beeline toward the door.

  An easy smile stretching his lips, Alex stepped into my personal space, blocking my path. “I could do with a coffee.”

  I shook my head and met his steady gaze. “Girls night out.”

  The smile faded from his face leaving a sharp-eyed stare that sent a shiver creeping like a thief along my skin. He turned back to Crystal and, for a few seconds until my friends joined me, I stood alone.

  ***

  Alex

  “Not a bad command post.” Shay stood in the doorway of the small bedroom we’d commandeered as a study and surveyed our equipment.

  “You boys have to share a bedroom,” announced my father without turning his head from where he wrote busily on a smart-board with a black marker.

  Shay and I exchanged a mildly horrified look as the other two rooms only held double-beds.

  “I’ll take the pull-out sofa in the living room.” I leaned back in the computer chair and grinned. “He’s a spooner.”

  “You don’t know what you’re missing.” Shay chuckled.

  Dad turned around and pointed the pen at him. “What happened in Sydney?”

  “I didn’t find anything of interest.”

  At the barely disguised frustration in my mate’s voice, I blocked my father and flashed Shay a message, What gives?

  Nothing I could put my finger on, but I’m positive someone very clever erased the data before I could access the hard-drive.

  I gave a soundless whistle and looked over to find my father staring at me with narrowed eyes. He knew we’d been ‘flashing’. Did he have to know every little thing about me? I shrugged off my momentary irritation and waved Shay to a chair. The job had priorities over my yearning for a little independence.

  “Your full report please, Shay.”

  Shay crossed the room and sat, keeping his back stiff. “Sorry, Sir. I don’t have any proof, however I suspect the data had been wiped clean.”

  “That could work two ways. Either you’re correct in your suspicions or your mark is a lot cleverer than you’ve given her credit for,” my father said drily.

  I frowned, thinking back to my recent encounter. “I met Marnie Tolini in the pub. It could be the simple fact that she has nothing to hide.”

  “Everyone has something to hide.” My father turned back to his board and wrote ‘Marnie T’.

  “There could be another reason, Sir.”

  “You’re talking about someone else gaining access either before you broke into her apartment. Or you were spotted and they uploaded a virus which activated the moment you began your search.”

  My father could always arrow onto the source of any problem, he was that good. But Shay was like a stealth machine. I couldn’t see how he’d been made. I pondered over the implications while my father quickly jotted down the three possible conclusions we’d arrived at then stood back a pace to scan the board.

  “This Ferguson family interests me,” he finally said.

  Yeah, he wasn’t the only one. I
ignored the questioning look Shay shot at me as he picked up on my confusion.

  “The dynamics are correct for the marks we’re searching for.” Dad tapped the pen against his teeth. “Any indications of a connection yet, Alex?”

  “None.” But I lied. I’d already sensed the pull toward Tara and I still couldn’t work out why I was so reluctant to admit she could be my mark. Sure I was attracted to her, but this felt different from the other girls I’d had in my life. It felt deeper, stronger. I wasn’t certain whether the connection was lust or she really was the one I had to protect and keep alive at all cost.

  “Have the other Warders checked in, Sir?” asked Shay, while he logged on onto the secure computer and brought up a map of Earth.

  “Not yet. Eleven have not uploaded their reports.”

  I frowned and leaned over to scan Shay’s screen where several red blinking lights had appeared all over the globe. “That’s an unusually high number. Can we send out recon teams to check the missing guys’ status?”

  “That’s a negative. We need everyone to maintain their current roles. Any deviation from our plans could be fatal.”

  “Do you think this is going to work?” I had to ask. I’d give anything to discover my father’s real opinion on the subject.

  “Considering the alternative, Alex, we don’t have any choice.”

  As usual, my father failed to give me any inkling of what lay hidden beneath the soldier. As a commander, he had no equal. He’d led our small, secret band of soldiers for as long as I could remember. And kept us alive.

  But our time was limited.

  Our army scattered.

  The fate of this planet was now in the hands of our marks. Our job, as well as protecting them, was to make them believe and assist them connect with our ‘friends’. Whether that would be sufficient to stop Earth from being destroyed, I had no idea. There was so much about this entire operation I didn’t understand. But a good soldier never questions his orders.

  “Alex.”

  I stirred and looked up to see my father glaring at me.

  “Sorry, Sir. I was thinking about what’s coming.”